Morning(ish) Bog: LeBron Gets Dunked On

I don't care how many outlets repeat this story of Nike confiscating a video tape of LeBron getting dunked on at his basketball camp; that story made this day a good one. Gilbert might have six broken knees and 13 broken elbows, but a guy who goes to a Southeast playground while still injured to play against a random assortment of amateur players would likely not pull that particular high school hall monitor stunt. Haha, Cleveland.

Speaking of which, the Wiz erected a new Gilbert Arenas banner on their arena. See it here. That's confidence, if nothing else. Yes, the Mission Accomplished joke has already been made.

More links, courtesy of Max Wasserman.

* A look at the sportswriters present on the "Power Grid" at new media-industry site Mediaite. Michael Wilbon is the 74th-most influential columnist in all media genres--behind Will Leitch at 43 but ahead of Jason Whitlock at 79. John Feinstein is 105th. Sally Jenkins is 132nd. "Mike" Wilbon is 162nd. Former Wash Times guy Patrick Hruby is 177th. Drew Magary is the 107th-most influential reporter. Seriously, he's listed as a reporter. (Dan Shanoff)

* Brendan Haywood on Michael Jackson: "Without Michael Jackson, there may not have been a Michael Jordan. He, along with guys like Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali are true pioneers who broke down racial barriers and allowed young African-American entertainers to be as successful as they are today." (Yardbarker via Truth About It)

* An IndyCar Series race could be coming to Baltimore with the course being the streets of the Inner Harbor. Can't wait for the historic moment when the first car hits the warehouse. (Baltimore Sun, via Stet Sports)

* My favorite Web site about mustaches is running a promotion offering free tickets to the All-Star game in St. Louis via baseball cards involving mustached players, or something like that. Read all the details. (Joe Sports Fan)

Brendan Haywood, please shut up. Sounds like some blockhead on TV yesterday who said Michael Jackson "broke the color line" to white audiences by black entertainers. I wasn't aware Jackson was performing in the late 50's-early 60's. Wonder what guys like Chuck Berry and Little Richard have to say?

If you don't like Haywood, that's cool, capsfan77, but he never said MJ was exclusively responsible for anything. He framed the accomplishments within a context and put him alongside other pioneers. It's hard to deny that he had an incredible influence on entertainment and opened many doors. Love it or hate it, MTV wouldn't be the same.